BETWEEN
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PRINCIPALITY OF LIECHTENSTEIN
AND
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE KINGDOM OF THE NETHERLANDS
ON
THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION WITH RESPECT TO TAXES
The Government of the Principality of Liechtenstein
and
the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
hereinafter referred to as the Contracting Parties;
Have agreed as follows:
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Article 1
Object and scope of the Agreement
The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall provide assistance
through exchange of information that is foreseeably relevant to the administration
and enforcement of the domestic laws of the Contracting Parties concerning taxes
covered by this Agreement.
Such information shall include information that is foreseeably relevant to the
determination, assessment and collection of such taxes, the recovery and
enforcement of tax claims, or the investigation in or prosecution of tax matters.
Information shall be exchanged in accordance with the provisions of this Agreement
and shall be treated as confidential in the manner provided in Article 8.
The rights and safeguards secured to persons by the laws or administrative
practice of the requested Party remain applicable to the extent that they do not
unduly prevent or delay effective exchange of information.
Article 2
Jurisdiction
A requested Party is not obligated to provide information which is neither held
by its authorities nor in the possession or control of persons who are within its
territorial jurisdiction.
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Article 3
Taxes covered
1. The taxes which are the subject of this Agreement are:
a) in the Netherlands:
(i) income tax (inkomstenbelasting),
(ii) wages tax (loonbelasting),
(iii) company tax, including the Government share in the net profits of the
exploitation of natural resources levied pursuant the Mining Act
(vennootschapsbelasting, daaronder begrepen het aandeel van de
Regering in de netto-winsten behaald met de exploitatie van natuurlijke
rijkdommen geheven krachtens de Mijnbouwwet),
(iv) dividend tax (dividendbelasting),
(v) gift tax (schenkingsrecht),
(vi) inheritance tax (successierecht),
(vii) value added tax (omzetbelasting);
b) in Liechtenstein:
(i) the personal income tax (Erwerbssteuer),
(ii) the corporate income tax (Ertragssteuer),
(iii) the corporation taxes (Gesellschaftssteuern),
(iv) the real estate capital gains tax (Grundstcksgewinnsteuer),
(v) the wealth tax (Vermgenssteuer),
(vi) the coupon tax (Couponsteuer), and
(vii) the estate, inheritance and gift taxes (Nachlass-, Erbanfalls- und
Schenkungssteuern).
2. This Agreement shall also apply to any identical or substantially
similar taxes imposed after the date of signature of the Agreement in addition to or in
place of the existing taxes if the competent authorities of the Contracting Parties so
agree. Furthermore, the taxes covered may be expanded or modified by mutual
agreement of the Contracting Parties in the form of an exchange of letters. The
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competent authorities of the Contracting Parties shall notify each other of any
substantial changes to the taxation and related information gathering measures
covered by the Agreement.
Article 4
Definitions
1. For the purposes of this Agreement, unless otherwise defined:
a) the term Contracting Party means the Netherlands or Liechtenstein as the
context requires;
b) the term the Netherlands means the part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands
that is situated in Europe, including its territorial sea, and any area beyond
the territorial sea within which the Netherlands, in accordance with
international law, exercises jurisdiction or sovereign rights with respect to the
sea bed, its sub soil and its superjacent waters, and their natural resources;
c) the term Liechtenstein means the Principality of Liechtenstein, and, when
used in a geographical sense, the area in which the tax laws of the Principality
of Liechtenstein apply;
d) the term competent authority means:
i) in the case of the Netherlands, the Minister of Finance or his authorized
representative;
ii) in the case of Liechtenstein, the Government of the Principality of
Liechtenstein or its authorized representative;
e) the term person includes an individual, a company and any other body of
persons;
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f) the term company means any body corporate or any entity that is treated as
a body corporate for tax purposes;
g) the term publicly traded company means any company whose principal
class of shares is listed on a recognised stock exchange provided its listed
shares can be readily purchased or sold by the public; shares can be
purchased or sold by the public if the purchase or sale of shares is not
implicitly or explicitly restricted to a limited group of investors;
h) the term principal class of shares means the class or classes of shares
representing a majority of the voting power and value of the company;
i) the term recognised stock exchange means any stock exchange that fulfils
the material requirements of Article 4 of the directive 2004/39/EC of the
European Parliament and of the Council of 21 April 2004;
j) the term collective investment fund or scheme means any pooled
investment vehicle, irrespective of legal form; the term public collective
investment fund or scheme means any collective investment fund or scheme
provided the units, shares or other interests in the fund or scheme can be
readily purchased, sold or redeemed by the public; units, shares or other
interests in the fund or scheme can be readily purchased, sold or redeemed
by the public if the purchase, sale or redemption is not implicitly or explicitly
restricted to a limited group of investors;
k) the term tax means any tax to which this Agreement applies;
l) the term applicant Party means the Contracting Party requesting
information;
m) the term requested Party means the Contracting Party requested to provide
information;
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n) the term information gathering measures means administrative or judicial
procedures that enable a Contracting Party to obtain and provide the
requested information;
o) the term information means any fact, statement or record in any form
whatever;
p) the term criminal tax matters means tax matters involving intentional
conduct which is liable to prosecution under the criminal laws of the applicant
Party;
q) the term criminal laws means all criminal laws designated as such under
domestic law irrespective of whether contained in the tax laws, the criminal
code or other statutes.
2. As regards the application of this Agreement at any time by a
Contracting Party, any term not defined therein shall, unless the context otherwise
requires or the competent authorities agree to a common meaning pursuant to the
provisions of Article 13 of this Agreement, have the meaning that it has at that time
under the law of that Contracting Party, any meaning under the applicable tax laws
of that Contracting Party prevailing over a meaning given to the term under other
laws of that Contracting Party.
Article 5
Exchange of information upon request
1. The competent authority of the requested Party shall provide upon
request of the applicant Party information for the purposes referred to in Article 1.
Such information shall be exchanged without regard to whether the conduct being
investigated would constitute a crime under the laws of the requested Party if such
conduct occurred in the requested Party. The competent authority of the applicant
Party shall only make a request for information pursuant to this Article when it is
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unable to obtain the requested information by other means available in its own
territory, except where recourse to such means would give rise to disproportionate
difficulty.
2. If the information in the possession of the competent authority of the
requested Party is not sufficient to enable it to comply with the request for
information, that Party shall use all relevant information gathering measures to
provide the applicant Party with the information requested, notwithstanding that the
requested Party may not need such information for its own tax purposes.
3. If specifically requested by the competent authority of the applicant
Party, the competent authority of the requested Party shall provide information under
this Article, to the extent allowable under its domestic laws, in the form of depositions
of witnesses and authenticated copies of original records.
4. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that its competent authorities for
the purposes specified in Article 1 and in accordance with the terms of this
Agreement, have the authority to obtain and provide upon request:
a) information held by banks, other financial institutions, and any person acting
in an agency or fiduciary capacity including nominees and trustees;
b) information regarding the ownership of legal persons, including companies,
partnerships, collective investment funds or schemes, Anstalten (where
appropriate), and other persons, including, within the constraints of Article 2,
information on all such persons in an ownership chain; in the case of trusts,
information on settlors, trustees and beneficiaries; in the case of foundations
information on founders, members of the foundation council and
beneficiaries; and equivalent information in the case of entities that are
neither trusts nor foundations.
Further, this Agreement does not create an obligation on the Contracting
Parties to obtain or provide ownership information with respect to publicly traded
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companies or public collective investment funds or schemes unless such information
can be obtained without giving rise to disproportionate difficulties.
5. The competent authority of the applicant Party shall formulate the
request with the greatest detail possible by in all cases specifically providing the
following information to the competent authority of the requested Party when making
a request for information under this Agreement to demonstrate the foreseeable
relevance of the information to the request:
(a) the identity of the person under examination or investigation;
(b) the period for which the information is sought;
(c) a statement of the information sought including its nature and the form in
which the applicant Party wishes to receive the information from the
requested Party;
(d) the purpose for which the information is sought;
(e) grounds for believing that the information requested is foreseeably relevant to
the administration and enforcement of the domestic tax laws of the applicant
Party with regard to the person specified in subparagraph (a);
(f) grounds for believing that the information requested is held in the requested
Party or is in the possession or control of a person within the jurisdiction of
the requested Party;
(g) to the extent known, the name and address of any person believed to be in
possession of the requested information;
(h) a statement that the request is in conformity with the law and administrative
practices of the applicant Party, that if the requested information was within
the jurisdiction of the applicant Party then the competent authority of the
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applicant Party would be able to obtain the information under the laws of the
applicant Party or in the normal course of administrative practice and that it is
in conformity with this Agreement; and
(i) a statement that the applicant Party has pursued all means available in its
own territory to obtain the information, except those that would give rise to
disproportionate difficulties.
6. The competent authority of the requested Party shall acknowledge
receipt of the request in writing to the competent authority of the applicant Party and
shall use its best endeavours within its means to forward the requested information
to the competent authority of the applicant Party with the least reasonable delay.
Article 6
Tax examinations abroad
1. By reasonable notice given in advance, the applicant Party may
request and the requested Party may allow representatives of the competent
authority of the applicant Party to enter the territory of the requested Party, to the
extent permitted under its laws, to interview individuals and examine records with the
prior written consent of the persons concerned. The competent authority of the
requested Party shall notify the competent authority of the applicant Party of the time
and place of the meeting with the individuals concerned.
2. At the request of the competent authority of the applicant Party, the
competent authority of the requested Party may allow representatives of the
competent authority of the applicant Party to be present at the appropriate part of a
tax examination in the requested Party.
3. If the request referred to in paragraph 2 is acceded to, the competent
authority of the requested Contracting Party conducting the examination shall, as
soon as possible, notify the competent authority of the applicant Party about the time
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and place of the examination, the authority or official designated to carry out the
examination and the procedures and conditions required by the requested Party for
the conduct of the examination. All decisions with respect to the conduct of the tax
examination shall be made by the requested Party conducting the examination.
Article 7
Possibility of declining a request
1. The requested Party shall not be required to obtain or provide
information that the applicant Party would not be able to obtain under its own laws or
in the normal course of administrative practice for purposes of the administration or
enforcement of its own tax laws or in response to a valid request made in similar
circumstances from the requested Party under this Agreement. The competent
authority of the requested Party may decline to assist where the request is not made
in conformity with this Agreement or any other instrument to which the Contracting
Parties are parties
2. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting
Party the obligation to supply information subject to legal privilege or which would
disclose any trade, business, industrial, commercial or professional secret or trade
process. Notwithstanding the foregoing, information of the type referred to in Article
5, paragraph 4 shall not by reason of that fact alone be treated as such a secret or
trade process merely because it meets the criteria in that paragraph.
3. The provisions of this Agreement shall not impose on a Contracting
Party the obligation to obtain or provide information, which would reveal confidential
communications between a client and an attorney, solicitor or other admitted legal
representative where such communications are:
a) produced for the purposes of seeking or providing legal advice; or
b) produced for the purposes of use in existing or contemplated legal
proceedings.
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4. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the
disclosure of the information would be contrary to public policy (ordre public) of the
requested Party.
5. A request for information shall not be refused on the ground that the
tax claim giving rise to the request is disputed.
6. The requested Party may decline a request for information if the
information is requested by the applicant Party to administer or enforce a provision of
the tax law of the applicant Party, or any requirement connected therewith, which
discriminates against a national of the requested Party as compared with a national
of the applicant Party in the same circumstances.
Article 8
Confidentiality
Any information provided or received by a Contracting Party under this
Agreement shall be treated as confidential and may be disclosed only to persons or
authorities (including courts and administrative bodies) in the jurisdiction of the
Contracting Party concerned with the assessment or collection of, the enforcement
or prosecution in respect of, or the determination of appeals in relation to, the taxes
covered by this Agreement.
Such persons or authorities shall use such information only for such
purposes. They may disclose the information in public court proceedings or in judicial
decisions. The information may not be disclosed to any other person or entity or
authority or any other jurisdiction without the express written consent of the
competent authority of the requested Party.
Personal data may be transmitted to the extent necessary for carrying out the
provisions of this Agreement and subject to the provisions of the law of the supplying
Party. Information received by the requested Party in conjunction with a request for
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assistance under this Agreement shall likewise be treated as confidential in the
requested Party.
Article 9
Costs
Incidence of costs incurred in providing assistance shall be agreed by the
Contracting States.
Article 10
Implementation legislation
The Contracting Parties shall enact any legislation necessary to comply with,
and give effect to, the terms of this Agreement by December 31, 2010.
Article 11
Language
Requests for assistance and answers thereto shall be drawn up in English.
Article 12
Other international agreements or arrangements
The possibilities of assistance provided by this Agreement do not limit, nor
are they limited by, those contained in other international Agreements or
arrangements between the Contracting Parties which relate to co-operation in tax
matters.
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Article 13
Mutual agreement procedure
1. Where difficulties or doubts arise between the Contracting Parties
regarding the implementation or interpretation of this Agreement, the competent
authorities shall endeavour to resolve the matter by mutual agreement.
2. In addition to the agreements referred to in paragraph 1, the
competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may mutually agree on the
procedures to be used under this Agreement.
3. The competent authorities of the Contracting Parties may
communicate with each other directly for purposes of reaching agreement under this
Article.
4. If any difficulty or doubt arising as to the interpretation or application of
the Agreement cannot be resolved by the competent authorities of the Contracting
Parties in a mutual agreement procedure pursuant to the previous paragraphs of this
Article within a period of two years after the question was raised, the case may, at
the request of either Contracting Party, be submitted for arbitration, but only after
fully exhausting the procedure available under paragraphs 1 and 3 of this Article and
provided the taxpayer or taxpayers involved agree in writing to be bound by the
decision of the arbitration board.
The decision of the arbitration board in a particular case shall be binding on
both Contracting Parties and the taxpayers involved with respect to that case.
5. The Contracting Parties may also agree on other forms of dispute
resolution.
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Article 14
Entry into force
This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the third month after
the latter of the respective Contracting Parties have notified each other in writing
through diplomatic channels that the formalities required under their respective
domestic laws have been complied with, and its provisions shall have effect with
respect to the exchange of information for all tax matters on that date, but only in
respect of taxable periods beginning on or after January 1, 2010 or, where there is
no taxable period, all charges to tax arising on or after that date.
Article 15
Termination
1. This Agreement shall remain in force until terminated by one of the
Contracting Parties. Either Contracting Party may terminate the Agreement, through
diplomatic channels, by giving notice of termination to the other Contracting Party at
least six months before the end of any calendar year. In such event the Agreement
shall cease to have effect for taxable years and periods beginning after the end of
the calendar year in which the notice of termination has been given.
2. Such termination shall become effective on the first day of the month
following the expiration of a period of six months after the date of receipt of notice of
termination by the other Contracting Party. Nevertheless, all requests received
before the effective date of termination shall be dealt with in accordance with this
Agreement.
3. In the event of termination, both Contracting Parties shall remain
bound by the provisions of Article 8 with respect to any information provided or
received under this Agreement.
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IN WITNESS whereof the undersigned, duly authorized thereto, have signed
this Agreement.
Done at . this .. day of ... 2009, in duplicate,
in the English language.
For the Government
of the Principality of Liechtenstein:
For the Government
of the Kingdom of the Netherlands: